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John van Dongen quits BC Conservatives; John Cummins holds on to leadership

John Cummins is the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party.

Photograph by: Handout
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Veteran MLA John van Dongen is stepping down from the Conservative party to sit as an independent in the legislature, after party members voted against reviewing the leadership of John Cummins.

The former BC Liberal, who defected to the Conservatives last spring, made the surprise announcement after Conservative members voted around 70 per cent against holding a leadership review at the BC Conservatives annual general meeting Saturday in Langley.

Outside van Dongen, who was the party’s only sitting MLA, said he could not “in all good conscience” remain part of a party with Cummins at the helm.

“I am announcing today that I am turning in my BC conservative membership and I will continue to sit as an independent in the legislature,” he said.

“I cannot carry on with a leader who probably doesn’t care whether I stay or go.”

The decision is a big blow for Cummins’ party, which has been rocked with a public battle over its leader, a star candidate defecting to the Liberals and losing support in the polls.

The four-term MLA for Abbotsford South said he doesn’t believe Cummins has “the right stuff” to be premier, which he added included honesty, integrity, competency and commitment to public service.

Out of 1,104 ballots asking members whether they were in favour of a leadership contest, only 28 per cent said yes they wanted a review of Cummins’ leadership.

He said he knew he was taking a risk when he joined the Conservatives last spring but he was prepared to take that risk and had no regrets.

Earlier Saturday, Conservatives erupted in applause as the results of the vote were read out. The vote was 788 to 316 in favour of keeping Cummins as leader.

After the vote, Cummins said he was delighted the party had voted in his favour.

“We should continue to build and fight for the election and now is not the time for a leadership convention.”

Cummins, 70, who has been leader of the B.C. Conservatives since May, 2011, said he didn’t know why party members were against his leadership.

“The big question is what are the substance of the complaints. I’ve looked at the emails and if you can make head or tails of the substance of the complaints then please advise,” he said.

“It’s been tough. It hasn’t been positive there’s no question about it.”

Earlier this week, a group working to oust Cummins announced it wanted to replace the party executive with its own slate. The group, which calls itself the Friends of the B.C. Conservative Party, is led by former party candidate Ben Besler of Chilliwack. A group backing Cummins called the “A-Team” also emerged led by North Cowichan councillor Al Siebring. Siebring is running for party president.

In March, van Dongen left the Liberal party over concerns about the leadership of Premier Christy Clark.

At the time, he said there were serious unanswered questions regarding the writing-off of $6 million in legal fees in the BC Rail case.

He was also upset about the unexplainable cancellation of a $35-million naming rights agreement with Telus which he called “another example of failed leadership.”

On Friday, the BC Conservatives were dealt a blow when they lost Jon Martin to the BC Liberals. Martin was ran as a Conservative candidate in the April byelection in Chilliwack-Hope.

In an Ipsos Reid poll released Thursday, the BC Conservatives were down four points from a similar poll in June to just 12 per cent.

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